Aperam CEO Bernard Fontana will be new Holcim CEO

Effective Feb. 1, 2012 Bernard Fontana, presently CEO of Aperam, a company recently spun-off from ArcelorMittal, is to assume the position of CEO of Holcim Ltd. He is replacing departing CEO Markus Akermann, who is stepping down at the end of January 2012 on grounds of age.

Markus Akermann, 64, who has been CEO of Holcim Ltd since the beginning of 2002, will be reaching retirement age at the end of January 2012. In view of this change, the Board of Directors has been addressing the question of successor for some time and has named Bernard Fontana new CEO of Holcim Ltd with effect from February 1, 2012. In Bernard Fontana, Holcim has secured the services of a business leader with many years of international experience in a sector comparable to the construction materials industry who will ideally complement the present Executive Committee. Rolf Soiron, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Holcim Ltd: “We have succeeded in finding a successor with a winning personality who has a true track record in corporate leadership as well as in central group functions such as HR and sustainable development.” Markus Akermann will retain his seat on the Board of Directors until his current term of office ends in 2013.

Bernard Fontana, 50, is a French national. He holds a degree in engineering from the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Techniques Avancées in Paris. His career began with Groupe SNPE in France.

In 1998, he was appointed head of US operations, and from 2001 to 2004 was a member of the Executive Committee. Shortly after joining ArcelorMittal in 2004, he was given responsibility for HR, IT and business development at Flat Carbon. From 2006 to 2007 he was a member of the Management Committee of ArcelorMittal with responsibility for the Automotive Worldwide Business Unit. In his capacity as Group Management Committee member, he was subsequently responsible for HR and the global alliance with Nippon Steel.

Since 2010 Bernard Fontana has been CEO of Aperam, a Luxembourg-domiciled listed corporate group that was spun off from ArcelorMittal in the fall of 2010. This newly formed corporation produces high-grade steel in Europe and overseas. Aperam generates sales of approximately USD 6.5 billion and has a workforce of around 10,000 employees.